| [01:00.44] |
Yesterday began with some devastating news with regard to our economic crisis. |
| [01:04.26] |
But I'm pleased to say it ended on a more positive note. |
| [01:07.76] |
In the morning, we received yet another round of alarming employment figures – the worst in more than 30 years. |
| [01:14.35] |
Another 600,000 jobs were lost in January. |
| [01:18.42] |
We've now lost more than 3.6 million jobs since this recession began. |
| [01:24.05] |
But by the evening, |
| [01:26.42] |
Democrats and Republicans came together in the Senate and responded appropriately to the urgency this moment demands. |
| [01:31.70] |
In the midst of our greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression, |
| [01:35.22] |
the American people were hoping that Congress would begin to confront the great challenges we face. |
| [01:40.87] |
That was, after all, what last November's election was all about. |
| [01:44.35] |
Legislation of such magnitude deserves the scrutiny that it's received over the last month |
| [01:48.47] |
and it will receive more in the days to come. |
| [01:51.22] |
But we can't afford to make perfect the enemy of the absolutely necessary. |
| [01:56.10] |
The scale and scope of this plan is right. And the time for action is now. |
| [02:01.75] |
Because if we don't move swiftly to put this plan in motion, |
| [02:05.05] |
our economic crisis could become a national catastrophe. |
| [02:08.75] |
Millions of Americans will lose their jobs,their homes, and their health care. |
| [02:13.99] |
Millions more will have to put their dreams on hold. |
| [02:16.98] |
Let's be clear: We can't expect relief from the tired old theories that |
| [02:22.04] |
in eight short years |
| [02:23.16] |
doubled the national debt |
| [02:24.60] |
threw our economy into a tailspin |
| [02:26.40] |
and led us into this mess in the first place. |
| [02:29.46] |
We can't rely on a losing formula |
| [02:31.26] |
that offers only tax cuts as the answer to all our problems |
| [02:35.87] |
while ignoring our fundamental economic challenges |
| [02:38.60] |
– the crushing cost of health care or the inadequate state of so many schools |
| [02:42.94] |
our addiction to foreign oil or our crumbling roads, bridges, and levees. |
| [02:47.31] |
The American people know that our challenges are great. |
| [02:50.32] |
They don't expect Democratic solutions or Republican solutions |
| [02:53.70] |
– they expect American solutions. |
| [02:56.03] |
From the beginning, |
| [02:57.24] |
this recovery plan has had at its core a simple idea: |
| [03:01.03] |
Let's put Americans to work doing the work America needs done. |
| [03:05.20] |
It will save or create more than 3 million jobs over the next two years, |
| [03:08.83] |
all across the country – 16,000 in Maine, |
| [03:12.23] |
nearly 80,000 in Indiana |
| [03:14.42] |
– almost all of them in the private sector |
| [03:16.95] |
and all of them jobs that help us recover today, and prosper tomorrow. |
| [03:22.13] |
Jobs that upgrade classrooms and laboratories in 10,000 schools nationwide |
| [03:25.26] |
– at least 485 in Florida alone |
| [03:29.47] |
– and train an army of teachers in math and science. |
| [03:33.35] |
Jobs that modernize our health care system, |
| [03:36.08] |
not only saving us billions of dollars |
| [03:38.03] |
but countless lives. |
| [03:40.03] |
Jobs that construct a smart electric grid |
| [03:43.18] |
connect every corner of the country to the information superhighway |
| [03:46.55] |
double our capacity to generate renewable energy |
| [03:50.11] |
and grow the economy of tomorrow. |
| [03:52.57] |
Jobs that rebuild our crumbling roads |
| [03:54.38] |
bridges and levees and dams |
| [03:56.09] |
so that the tragedies of New Orleans and Minneapolis never happen again. |
| [04:00.90] |
It includes immediate tax relief for our struggling middle class in places like Ohio, |
| [04:06.01] |
where 4.5 million workers will receive a tax cut of up to $1,000. |
| [04:11.23] |
It protects health insurance and provides unemployment insurance |
| [04:14.39] |
for those who've lost their jobs. |
| [04:16.54] |
And it helps our states and communities avoid painful tax hikes |
| [04:20.74] |
or layoffs for our teachers, nurses, and first responders. |
| [04:25.11] |
That's what is at stake with this plan: |
| [04:27.52] |
putting Americans back to work, |
| [04:29.47] |
creating transformative economic change |
| [04:32.18] |
and making a down payment on the American Dream |
| [04:36.17] |
that serves our children and our children's children for generations to come. |
| [04:40.11] |
Americans across this country are struggling |
| [04:42.35] |
and they are watching to see if we're equal to the task before us. |
| [04:46.59] |
Let's show them that we are. |
| [04:48.50] |
And let's do whatever it takes to keep the promise of America alive in our time. |
| [04:54.40] |
Thank you. |
| [04:59.33] |
|
